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SUNY Upstate selected for President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — SUNY Upstate Medical University has been named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll in recognition of the community services activities undertaken by its students.

The Honor Roll, launched in 2006, recognizes colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs.

"We're elated to be honored in this way for our community service," said Sue Stearns, Ph.D., professor and director of the university's Office of Community Outreach and Global Health Education. "The only limit to our students' volunteer efforts is that there are not enough hours in the day. Service to our community is part of the university's mission and our students place great value on being able to help others in our community."

More than half of SUNY Upstate students are involved in dozens of outreach efforts throughout the year, from collecting blankets, warm clothing and canned goods for the local refugee assistance centers and community pantries to assisting faculty physicians in providing healthcare to the homeless and migrant farm community.

Under the university's Adopt-A-School program, medical students mentor fifth-graders at Syracuse's Dr. King Magnet School, assisting teachers in the teaching of the science curriculum. The yearlong efforts culminate in a science fair, where the fifth-graders announce their scientific discoveries to an audience of parents and siblings.

Late last year, students answered an appeal for the recruitment of bone marrow donors by working with university officials in setting up a bone marrow drive. Nearly 80 students and faculty responded to the appeal to aid in the treatment of two local young adults in need of bone marrow transplants.

Students also participate in increasing numbers in university-sponsored walks to raise money for various charities, including the March of Dimes, the American Heart Association and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

"I offer heartfelt congratulations to those institutions named to the 2008 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. College and university students across the country are making a difference in the lives of others every day—as are the institutions that encourage their students to serve others," said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.

The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation and the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development, in partnership with Campus Compact and the American Council on Education.

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